Ian Fitzsimmons, ESPN Radio host & CFB sideline analyst, tells McElroy & Cubelic how Texas doesn't have as much power any more & why Oklahoma isn't SEC ready
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This Chalks94.5 podcast is brought to you by Millennium Satellite and Video. Log on to MSPNOW.com. TV excellence everywhere. That's Millennium. McElroy and Kubelik in the morning starts now. All right, welcome back in. McElroy and Kubelik in the morning. Day two SEC media days live from Radio Row. Visit with ESPN Radio's Ian Fitzsimmons here in just a moment.

Some realignment news, as we've sort of alluded to it just a few times today during the course of the show. I'll get to that in just a moment. GMAC, first tell our listeners how ABS Systems can help them. Well, they always put the customer first, so it gives you great peace of mind as a business owner to know that ABS Systems is going to be taking care of you just like they've taken care of thousands of companies over the last 30 years. And they're also taking it one step further now, introducing ABS Pure Water, which is a division of ABS Business Systems. It has...

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We've kind of hit a little bit of realignment and hinted around some of the things that may be coming, some of the discussions. Brett McMurphy tweeting out just a few minutes ago, Big Ten SEC unlikely to add Florida State if it leaves ACC and ACC survives, sources told the Action Network. Big Ten and SEC don't want FSU because adding FSU doesn't make financial sense.

No desire to expand and, quote, they've been a disruptive partner, said sources. I wanted you to hop on here, Ian, because I thought that was an interesting phrase.

because there's a team that's coming into the SEC that a lot of people believe has been a disruptive partner. And Nick Saban sort of tried to squash that a little bit yesterday, saying Texas is not going to come in and run the SEC. And I actually don't think that he just meant on the field. I actually think that he was alluding to off the field as well. You know that program well. You've been around it. You've been here in Dallas for a while.

Can Texas have their way in the SEC? Yeah, your partner here, man, grew up here. He's a Hall of Famer. He's a Hall of Famer. I'm right there, man. That's an all-time power clean record. Really? Still got it. Seriously? Duh.

Did you dye your hair blonde? I don't know if they do power cleans anymore, so it's probably not going to get broken. There you go. He's avoiding the whole blonde thing. Of course. We all dyed our hair blonde. I think it shows the lack of O-linemen and D-linemen you guys had recruited.

No, I was a quarter. That they couldn't pass you? Oh, you just have the quarterback record. Yeah, I just have the quarterback record. I thought you had the school record. I'm not going to brag about that anymore. No, never yet. Never mind. No, it's not a big deal. Let's just go ahead and dismiss that thing. Pound for pound. There you go. Quintin Ewers has got nothing on the power clean when it comes to Greg Mackler. I'm not worried about that. Greg Mackler actually played his senior year, so we're not going to have that talk. Wow. Too soon. That was a drive-by. Sorry, bro. I'm not cool on people quitting on their teams. It's not for me. Well, going to your question about Texas,

The days of Daddy DeLoss Dodds, former athletic director of Texas, calling the shots in an entire conference when it was Texas, Oklahoma, and then everybody else, it's long gone. And that's something that Texas fans and the big oil boosters who've got millions of dollars in their glove compartments are going to have to get used to. Texas has as much say as Vandy. That's the Southeastern Conference. That's the way it goes.

And did Saban have a little more pull? And could he at times shoot a text or call Greg Sankey and say, you know, we might want to consider this? Yeah, I'm sure he did. But not to the degree that Texas ran the Big 12. So, I mean, they got their own network done with us. But that's the power that Texas had. And those days are long gone to the point where in our officiating seminar we just got done with, Horns Down came up.

That is not an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty if it is done away from a Texas player. If you're going toward your bench, that's how ridiculous this whole thing is. And that's how soft Texas fans and Texas alums have been for decades. Where if you did a horns down going away from the Texas bench toward your own with your teammates, that was an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

Now, what was it if you did it towards their bench? Death. Dismemberment? Punishable by death alone. Drawn and quartered? But if you do it toward, and John brought up, you know, ahead of officiating,

brought up where if you do a gator chomp at a gator player's face, that's unsportsmanlike. So if you do a horns down right. Taunting is taunting. It doesn't matter what you're doing. Right. But if you're doing it away on your own bench and you're flashing it to the ABC cameras or ESPN cameras, that is no longer a penalty. And that is something that Texas is going to have to get used to. Well, I mean, as someone that did horns down a million times. There may or may not be a GIF.

Well, it was definitely directed towards our own bench. Like, I would never, ever direct anything towards Texas' bench. Had no reason to celebrate with them. But I do think... This guy, I love him. I do think that it was... I do think it's kind of comical, like, what it got to in the Big 12. It's like, dude...

I understand the network thing is a good example. It's a little bit of a misconception because they were under the assumption that you could put high school games on the Longhorn Network, and then that was a recruiting advantage that Texas would have. So the Longhorn Network, there were different tentacles to that that ended up not working. But I do think that Texas carries weight.

regardless of what people acknowledge, I don't think they're going to go in and start telling Greg Sankey how to do things. But I do think what's good for Texas would be good for the gander, given that they have the deepest pockets around, maybe outside of Texas A&M. So I think it would be beneficial to keep them happy, but at the same time, they're not going to be able to push people around. I don't disagree with that one bit.

But when it comes to running a conference, as they did, as you know, especially with the Lost Dots as their athletic director, those days are long gone. I mean, long gone. That's in your rearview mirror. But I'll tell you this, they're SEC ready. I mean, they're good, man. They're beyond good. Have you really taken a look at their schedule? Yeah. I mean, it's their first road game, folks. In case you didn't know, I know you two do, but...

Their first SEC road game. Is that Michigan? October 20th. First road game as an SEC member. I'm just saying that one kind of matters. I'm talking about an SEC game. No, I know. October 26th at Vandy. Yeah.

It's manageable at the beginning, for sure. You get Michigan week two, and they just lost, what, 15 guys drafted and another, what, eight that are camp invites? You're looking at a starting squad, right? All 22 starters and a backup are on NFL rosters right now. So Michigan is very gettable, even in the big house week two by Texas. And then take a look at that thing. It's like ULM.

Mississippi State? Yeah. I mean, and your first road game is October 26th? Pencil them in right now, man, for the college football playoff and surviving in advance. Well, help me out with this, though. I'm just – and this is a bit of a right turn –

And it's unintentional, but I think it's kind of related. You live here. I think you have a unique perspective. We talked to Chris Budden here. Like, I'm from here. Like, this is never SEC territory. Nope. This is Big 12. Like, this was... We were Big 12 fans growing up. Like, I was not an SEC fan growing up. I was a Big 12 fan. And... You were committed to Texas Tech, right? I was. But the ground has changed so drastically. And I... But I...

I don't feel like knowing that a lot of my friends went to Arkansas, and this was kind of a melting pot, if you will, but it was still a heavy Big 12 lean. How much has that changed, though, since A&M and Missouri have gotten into the league? And now is it totally over the top with the addition of Texas Snow Climber? Like, is Dallas truly an SEC town now? I wouldn't say yet, but it's going to be. You know, when Texas A&M and Missouri came in years ago,

You were still here then, I think. You saw the SEC billboards all over the Metroplex. And for people who don't know, the Metroplex is a Dallas-Arlington-Fort Worth area. They were everywhere. You know, this is SEC country. It was a brilliant marketing move by Sankey and his PR staff. Yeah.

You know, on I-35, I-30, every major, 75 Central Expressway, every major artery coal had this is SEC country everywhere. Now, the Big 12 takes their media days last week to Las Vegas. Right. What does Sankey do? Oh, yeah.

Pumpkin, you're leaving town? Well, I'll tell you what we're going to do. With Texas and Oklahoma coming in, we're just going to go park our big old bloated butt right there in your backyard. And go ahead and hold court for an entire week right there in your biggest market. So is it yet? Not yet. But will it be? Absolutely.

Absolutely. All right, so from a Dallas resident's perspective that has followed the Texas program very closely for a long time, you also have to follow the Oklahoma program. Give us your 1,000-foot view of Oklahoma coming into the SEC. I think we have a good understanding of Texas. We've talked about it multiple times today. But just what do the Sooners mean geographically, historically, and then competitively here in the near future? I think they're better than most people think, but they're not near as SEC-ready as Texas is.

Look at that staff, right? Sarkeesian, Kyle Flood, Jeff Banks, Millwee, all came from Alabama. Bo Davis. Yeah. They all know what it takes and how to build an SEC-ready championship-type contending football team. Get your quarterback, get speed, and you build it from the guts out. O-line, D-line, and let's go swap paint.

I think Oklahoma's a couple years behind Texas right now, but I think they're going to be better than most people think they are. I don't know what they have in Jackson Arnold, quarterback. A lot of people are very high on him. Mack, I'm sure you've studied film on the guy. It's such a small sample size. Yeah. It's not enough to go on yet. Defensively, with Stutzman and Du Bois, are they a pretty good unit? Yeah, I think so. But people talk about seven wins, eight wins. I think they're better than that, but

But they are not as close to, and the schedule also. I mean, take a look at their schedule as well. It's not as friendly, and I don't think they're as deep as Texas is. But I think they will be better than most people think they are. Ian, thanks for hanging out with us for a few minutes, man. Just wanted to get your perspective and always enjoy talking football with you. Me casino last night.

Where? Lakewood. I live in Lakewood, man. It's two minutes from my house. Lakewood is five minutes from Highland Park. Why would they add a Mi Casino five minutes away? It also took over from Matt's traffic. Literally five minutes apart. But Matt's used to be right there. An old school Tex-Mex joint. It's gone. Mi Casino just jumped it. Well, Mi Casino's a good spot. I personally... Here you go, Mi. Personally, a little overrated.

But, you know, I think there's a lot of places that are a little overrated that people love. So, you know, it's just maybe I'm just a hater. Maybe that's what it is. What's going to be a better steak than any steakhouse in town? Like, for example, like, I think the steakhouses here are phenomenal. Nick and Sam's. Nick and Sam's is a great scene. Bob's is phenomenal. I love, you know. Del Frisco's. Del Frisco's is good. I'm not as high on Del Frisco's as other places. Thank you. I'm glad you said that. I really like, personally, Papa's Steakhouse. Great spot.

But Mikko to me, I don't know. We had one in Southlake, and it just always kind of rubbed me the wrong way. As a loyal, I'm a Javier's guy. I think Javier's is overrated. Ten years ago, I thought it was great. Javier's now is the name. You're going to go to that price point, take me to Nick and Sam. It's not that expensive.

This is the official welcoming of Texas to the SEC. We're debating Dallas eating spots right here on the show in Birmingham. See you, boys. One thing that I do know. Birmingham food a thousand times better than Dallas food, I might add. There you go. I like that. I don't disagree with that. Seriously. At all. Per capita? Tex-Mex, whatever it is, if you're eating like that, you're going to need a good place to rest. Three generations of Kubeliks have now slept on royal bedding mattresses made right there in Pelham. Go check them out. Send me a heard about them from us on the show. I sleep on one every night. You know I've had back.

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All right, tomorrow, Alabama Day. You rested up for Bama Day, GMAC, tomorrow?

I will be. A lot of duties. A lot of things. You and Saban hanging out again tomorrow? Tomorrow's a long one, but we'll be ready to roll, I can assure you. All right. I'm heading over to the SEC Network at noon. McElroy and Kubrick back tomorrow morning at 7 live from Radio Row. Catch up with all things McElroy and Kubrick in the morning by subscribing to the podcast. Mythically, he's grown. He's almost like a little bit bigger than a player, right? Like the myth of Bo Jackson. Like, rate, and download the show from the Jock Tap or wherever you get your podcasts. What?

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